A Couple of Caricatures

This was fun! It ran Thursday, August 11 in most of the Bay Area News Group papers.

These are supposed to be caricatures of Katy Perry and Adele. Adele came out okay, Perry I'm not sure. I guess if you put her name in the headline or sub-head then she's easy to spot.

I didn't know much about either of these ladies when I started drawing them, but with a little internet snooping and a short sampling of their work on Spotify, it's pretty obvious they are two talents with different approaches to their craft.

Katy Perry I'd seen here and there in adverts on the web. She impresses me as a cute pop-artist who doesn't take herself too seriously. That's cool. I have trouble lasting all the way through one of her songs, but I can appreciate what's she doing.

Adele was completely new to me. Never heard of her. I made it through five or six of her songs; she's pretty good. Not my cup of tea, but I grok.

First roughs in the process. I didn't
care for the way it was going up top,
so I switched to a more drawing-based
approach and then painted over that.
I really don't know what I'm doing
most of the time. It's always a kind
of improvisation.

I did some initial sketches playing up the differences between the artists -- Perry jumping and waving her arms, Adele standing essentially like she is now -- and I liked them, but it would have made for a more complex and time-consuming illustration. I didn't have much time.

I decided to do caricature-style portraits instead.

To do a good caricature I have to get a lot reference and do two or three practice drawings, just to become familiar with a face. I'm not good at looking at someone once and nailing the picture. I need practice.

Katy Perry is a more conventional beauty in the sense that her features are easily downplayed with make-up and lighting to achieve that mannequin sameness that appeals in our pop culture. I had a hard time finding the uniqueness in her features that I could use to make her look like her. If you know what I mean.

Adele was fun! Her features are lovely and unique. If you look at her cd covers you can see they're trying every trick in the book to make you think she's another skinny, bland-looking pop diva, but the pictures of her out in the world show a big and wonderful difference. She has a terrific face.

Oops. I was going to talk about the drawing process, but I digressed and talked about cute girls, instead. Now, I'm tired of typing and have other stuff to do.